Kyle Busch wins NASCAR Sprint Cup in New Hampshire

Kyle Busch claimed his third win in his last four races by holding off Brad Keselowski in lap traffic in the closing laps of the 5-hour Energy 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.

In fact, it’s taken only two races for Kyle Busch to jump into contention, gaining 70 points in those two contests (including New Hampshire).

Could Busch imagine, days after a horrific crash, he would become a threat for the title?

Meanwhile, Harvick said that they used the right strategy, but noted that they committed a mistake on the last pit stop.

Busch has won three of the past four races over a road course, a 1.5-mile track and a one-mile track.

The first group was racing for the win and with it a ticket to the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship that starts September 20 at Chicagoland Speedway. He’s still outside the top 30 in points, which is the second major qualifier to race for the title in the final 10 races of the season.

Busch, who won at Sonoma (Calif.) and last week at Kentucky Speedway, is 33rd in the standings, 58 points behind David Gilliland for 30th.

Cole Whitt is 31st and Brett Moffitt 32nd, easy pickings for Busch.

“I drove as hard as I could”, Busch said.

Recovering from horrendous leg and foot injuries sustained at the Daytona worldwide Speedway in February and missing 11 races seems to have given Busch a new perspective. “Every week it keeps getting better and better”. Needing another great finish to further his climb up the points standings to secure himself a spot in “The Chase”, Kyle Busch pulled out another win at New Hampshire on Sunday.

Stucker also said Goodyear will stick with the tires selected following a tire test in April at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for next weekend’s race at the Brickyard. “I said, ‘Bill, you haven’t got the wrong number, have you?'”.

Kenseth, Edwards, Austin Dillon, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch completed the top 10.

“I think so”, said Stevens. This is a mad sport, and you never know how it’s going to turn out.

NASCAR deemed Busch’s situation as one of those instances and offered him a chance to get into the Chase by running the final 15 events of the regular season.

Busch surrendered track position when he elected to hit pit road on Lap 244 under a green flag, a strategy that worked out when the race went under caution on Lap 252.

Busch was racing behind leaders Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski as multiple drivers were radioing to NASCAR officials that there was oil on the track and that a caution flag was necessary.

Keselowski led a race-high 101 laps and his No. 2 Ford appeared the auto to beat, leaving him clearly irked at losing the lead with 48 laps left.

The most intriguing wrinkle for the Chase may not be which championship contenders are in or out after each elimination round.

“It’s sweet, it makes me feel good”, he said.

Busch was joined by son Brexton, born in late May, in victory lane wearing a No 18 outfit. He should have borrowed his son’s bibs for the winner’s live 21-pound lobster he was awarded. New Hampshire has seen 11 straight races with a different victor.

On a day with temperatures soaring into the 90s, Matt DiBendendetto and Michael Annett were treated after the race at the NASCAR care center. “I was just hoping to catch a break and didn’t catch one”, he said in a Fox Sports report.